Russia resumed aerial attacks on Kyiv early Tuesday (September 8), killing two people and injuring at least 10, according to Ukrainian authorities. The strikes came after a three-day reciprocal halt in attacks on the two capitals, agreed during a diplomatic push by US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.
Explosions were reported across Kyiv during the early morning, with Ukrainian authorities reporting damage to residential buildings and other civilian infrastructure. Emergency services rescued people trapped inside a damaged five-story apartment building in the Solomyanskyi district. A warehouse, garages and an educational institution were also damaged, while images from officials showed burning vehicles.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the assault as a “complex attack,” saying Russia had sought to inflict extensive casualties. He said the strikes involved ballistic and cruise missiles, anti-ship missiles and jet-powered Shahed drones. Zelenskyy said Ukrainian forces had intercepted 175 aerial targets but stressed that ballistic missiles remain particularly difficult to stop, reiterating Kyiv’s requests to partners for additional interceptor missiles.
The attack extended beyond the capital: Zelenskyy also reported strikes on critical infrastructure in the Kyiv region, a civilian market in Odesa region, an apartment building in Kharkiv region and a locomotive near a railway station in Sumy region. Poland also placed its military aircraft on alert in response to the scale of the attack.
The strikes followed a diplomatic weekend involving Witkoff and Kushner, who met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Saturday (September 5) before travelling to Kyiv on Sunday for talks with Zelenskyy and Ukrainian officials. European representatives from France, Britain and Germany also participated in the Kyiv discussions.
Witkoff said Monday (September 7) that “substantive progress” had been made toward arranging further US-Russian-Ukrainian talks. Similarly, Zelenskyy noted that Putin had indicated an openness to negotiations aimed at “de-escalation” during the winter. However, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Monday that it remained too early to discuss specific dates or locations for renewed talks.
Source: commonspace.eu with CNN (Atlanta), Le Figaro (Paris) and Sky News (London).
